Deals and Dates
by Lizzerella
Summary: The Mad Hatter thinks doing lunch is a great idea, but Alice doesn't seem to agree. Then Reginald has a new idea, and she isn't sure if she likes it or not... WCMI-inspired, Alice/Reg, Comes after "Early Birds".
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Hey, look, I'm back! So this is a follow-up to Early Birds. It pretty much starts immediately after the last one ends. I hope you like it!! Oh, and I mention the Court of Miracles in here. That's a Hunchback of Notre Dame reference. XD

All credit for the spectacular characters, Reginald L. Theophilus III and Alice, belongs to Bri-chan and Rain. Their wonderful webcomic is on livejournal- "When Curiosity Met Insanity". Go read it. Right now.

Edit: Something wonderful has happened!! A reader- BriarRose86- has offered to do two things for me. Not only has she offered to be a beta for my stories, but she's also drawn some AMAZING pictures!! Based on my little drabbles!! I'm so unbelievably happy about this. XD Please go look at her artwork on DeviantArt: briarrose86 dot deviantart dot com --Replace the dots with actual dots and take a look. They're so nice!!! BriarRose, you are AWESOME.

* * *

After leaving Alice at work, the Mad Hatter walked towards his own store, not in the least upset with her rejection. He was rather getting used to being told no, and Reginald was very good at talking himself out of slumps. _'She's just playing hard to get, Reggie. Very, very hard to get…'_

He strolled along the street, hands in pockets, whistling as he went. (_He does so enjoy whistling._) The sun was shining; the usual Disney crowds were bustling about, and he was entertaining plans for a lovely lunch with Alice. As far as Reginald Leopold Theophilus the Third was concerned, life was good.

He reached his shop without incident, and spent the next five minutes digging through various pockets for his keys. There were many pockets to consider: top left of his vest, bottom right on the vest, all of his pants pockets, the two pockets on the inside of his coat and the two pockets on the _outside_ of his coat. After a long and arduous search, he discovered them in the secret compartment in the seam along the inside of his hat.

(_In this hidden space, he also stashes two shiny candy wrappers, a bit of small change, a spare pen, a purple kazoo and a small photo of Alice- purchased from Britt Dietz._)

Once inside, Reginald carefully and methodically hung up his coat and hat, and removed his vest. Once it was safely folded away, he pulled on his apron and went to work.

Reginald spent a long, productive morning in his hat store. Considering how infrequently he worked full shifts, orders tended to back up. When he actually did show up to do his job, there was always plenty to busy himself with.

Passerby who were familiar with the Mad Hatter's typical eccentricities were routinely surprised to see him whenever he was working. For his usually comical face would be the picture of serious as he bent over his current project. His movements would be slow and practiced, carefully piecing together his famous hats.

In a few hours, he finished a (_rather boring in comparison to his own_) top hat from a previous day and began work on another. The new hat was for a member of the Court of Miracles, and Reginald had quite a bit of fun designing a crazy jester's cap with no thought for conventions. Though, looking back, perhaps he had been a bit over-zealous with all the bells...

Eventually, he noticed the time, nearly dropping his tools when he did. _'How can I have lunch with my Alice if she eats before I arrive?!?'_ Seeing as it was approaching noon, Reginald hurriedly put away his things, muttering frantically under his breath all the while.

Had the March Hare been present, he would have wryly noted that Reginald had never been so careless with his work things before. Buttoning his vest and donning his infamous coat and hat, he was out the door less than five minutes after he decided to leave.

_'What if I'm horribly late, and she was expecting me? She'll hate me!' _Shaking his head to rid it of such horrid thoughts (_nearly dislodging his overlarge hat_), he practically ran to Alice and Belle's bookstore. The Disneyland residents were all, of course, used to his erratic behavior and paid him no mind.

Reginald burst through the door in a flurry of bright colors, hollering "Cricket!!" as he went. The store- which only a moment before had been filled with the quiet murmurings of customers- fell silent as everyone turned as one to stare at the distressed Hatter.

Alice, standing in one of the book aisles where she had been chatting with Ariel, felt her mouth fall open. "Oh, heavens…" _'What on earth is he doing here?'_ Her mouth shut with an audible click as she moved the few steps towards him, hands fisted at her sides.

He cut her off before she could say a word, seemingly oblivious to his precarious perch on her last nerve. "Pumpkin! Thank _Disney_ you're still here!"

The entire store was looking on with unveiled interest, Belle and Ariel especially. Alice could feel the flush burning in her cheeks, and she mentally turned all of that nervous energy to anger. "Mr. Theophilus! Do you have to make such a scene, you ridiculously dramatic-" With great effort, Alice cut off her stream of insults.

(_She shoved all musings of _why_ she was avoiding the insults to the back of her mind, and locked them firmly away._)

"What exactly do you mean, 'still here'? Where else would I be?" She ranted in a furious rush, dragging Reginald over to the counter as she spoke.

"Well," he began a tad nervously, for the first time noticing the stares of the other customers. Not wanting them to hear their conversation, he leaned in close to Alice, intending to whisper in her ear.

The poor young woman started at his sudden nearness, his face alongside hers so that she could feel the warmth of his cheek. His white hair brushed against her jaw, and she marveled at the silkiness.

Alice's face blushed redder than anyone had ever seen it, and she froze in place for a moment. Reginald began to murmur in her ear, but the words were lost in his overwhelming proximity and the loud pounding of her heart. The breathe behind his words seemed to caress her ear, and she trembled. With an abrupt gasp, Alice pushed him away with both hands against his chest.

He stumbled, surprised, and stammered over his words. "A-Alice? What?"

"You were entirely too close, sir! Completely inappropriate!" She snapped at him, and moved around to the far side of the counter in a huff. In all honestly, Alice was forcing the show of anger, because she _couldn't_ let him know her true reaction. _'Why won't my heart slow down? It was a surprise, that's all!'_ She tried desperately to reassure herself, but was still unable to look him in the eye.

Reginald examined her shrewdly, watching her stare somewhere just over his shoulder and nervously fiddle with her hair. A pleased grin spread across his face as he came to his own conclusions. _'It's all because she loves me, of course! My adorable little darling is all flustered!' _He leaned confidently against the counter, smirking at her knowingly.

"So," he questioned in an exaggeratedly deep voice that he thought sounded very suave. "What do you say, Lollipop?" Reginald eagerly awaited her reply to the question he posed whilst whispering to her, but her expression showed only confusion.

His seemingly random question drew Alice out of her tense silence. "Say to what?" she asked, completely mystified to the point of finally locking gazes with him again.

Reginald sighed, shaking his head in mock disappointment as he stood up straight.

"Really, Alice, you must learn to pay better attention when people are talking to you. It's only _polite_." She scowled. "Now then, I asked you if you would like to have lunch with me this splendid afternoon."

Alice blanched, staring at his eager face. Internally, she was groaning. _'I can't handle this much Reginald so often in one day….' _Outwardly, she gave her answer softly, a small part of her heart always aching for him when she rejected him. She knew it always hurt his feelings, and Alice hated to do so. "Not today, Mr. Theophilus."

Reginald's face fell into a childish pout. "Why not," he whined pleadingly. "I thought we were getting along well!"

Alice felt a pang somewhere in her chest at his desperate face, and suddenly had the overwhelming urge to change her mind. However, even with her abrupt desire to go along with his plans, she knew she simply couldn't handle it that day.

With a small unhappy noise that filled Reginald with concern, she slumped over the counter and hid her face in her small hands. "I'm tired, and my head hurts, and I feel kind of sick, so I'm not really hungry, and all I want to do is go home and go to bed as soon as I can."

The Mad Hatter also leaned over the counter, placing his head in his hands so that- should Alice look up- they would be nose to nose. He felt quite bad for his poor little Alice, as any of the bystanders in the store could see. "Well," he began quietly in a gentle sort of voice that Alice found soothing despite her desire not to feel that way. "We could…have lunch tomorrow?"

At this proposition, Alice did finally look up, and upon finding herself so close to Reginald's face, squeaked and jumped back. "I'm sorry but I enjoy reading with lunch!" The excuse escaped her mouth in a frenzied rush before she even thought about what she was saying. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and all Alice wanted was for the man to leave so that her blush could do the same.

Reginald, who had not moved at all, sighed. He was completely unwilling to accept defeat, but had a sneaking suspicion that continuous pushing would only upset Alice. He sighed again, thinking hard, striving to stay focused long enough to come up with a good idea.

Then it hit him. "That's it," he crowed clapping his hands and hopping a little in his excitement. All of a sudden- as Alice stared at him, perplexed and wary of his newest plan- he turned very serious. Alice suspected he was only putting on such a calm face for dramatics, as his eyes were still dancing with joy.

"Miss. Liddell," He began formally, grasping one of her hands between both his own. Alice found that she couldn't make herself pull away from the warmth. "I hereby promise to leave you in peace- though I don't believe you could possibly carry on happily without me, despite your own opinions on the matter, _ahem_- for the rest of today _and_ tomorrow,"

Reginald stopped to stare at her pointedly, hoping that she understood the gravity of his sacrifice.

"On one condition."

Alice bit her lip, suspecting that she knew what was coming. But she had to ask; curiosity wouldn't let her refuse without knowing. "And what would that be…?"

Reginald, breaking character, as he was completely unable to keep a straight face, smiled devilishly. "Cricket, you must agree to have dinner with me on Friday!"

Alice flushed, wondering if it was necessary for him to have announced it so loudly. There were muttered whispers flying all around the small shop, and Alice wasn't sure if she could handle the embarrassment. "I…umm…."

While she stammered and stalled, her eyes landed on her two best friends over Reginald's shoulder. Ariel and Belle stood side-by-side behind the Mad Hatter, complete opposites in action and expression. The red head had a look of horror and desperation as she frantically shook her head and motioned for Alice to say no.

Belle, on the other hand, was signaling for Alice to go along with the idea, grinning excitedly and nodding. Seeing what Ariel was doing out of the corner of her eye, she frowned for a moment before shoving Ariel behind a bookshelf and going back to smiling at Alice.

'_Oh, my.'_ She thought to herself at the random violence, before turning back to her suitor. _'Belle always does seem to know best…and _her_ husband was quite unconventional as well; look how they turned out. Sometimes I think they've the best romance in Disney…'_

Nodding her head along with her thoughts without meaning to, Alice watched Reginald's sweetly hopeful face. "Alright," she murmured, before speaking louder. "Yes, I agree."

Reginald's mouth fell open, revealing (_adorably_) large teeth. For a long moment he seemed incapable of processing her answer. "You…will?" There was another pause as he stared at Alice in wonderment, realizing for the millionth time that day that she was absolutely gorgeous. And this clever, passionate, stunning creature would be dining out with _him_ in only two days.

He could scarcely believe it. Yet, the right synapses finally connected in his brain, and the most wonderfully happy smile that Alice had ever seen spread across his face. She found herself smiling back, unable to resist responding to a joy that _she_ had inspired.

"_Yes_," Reginald cheered, jumping into the air with his exuberance. However, as he was still holding Alice's hands over the counter, he tugged her forward, throwing off balance and rather ruining the moment for her. He didn't notice.

He shook her hands, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. "Oh, my lovely, darling, wonderful, sweet, smart, beautiful _Alice_!" Alice found herself giggling in response, and then quickly stifling the laughter. "I'll hold you to that, Teacup."

Abruptly, he dropped her hands and turned away. Alice felt the loss immediately, and didn't even think to wonder why. Stopping to shake hands with Belle and murmur a giddy "thank you", Reginald swept out of the store with a new bounce to his step.

Alice, on the other hand, couldn't decide if the emotions churning inside of her were excitement or dread.

* * *

**AN Part 2: **For anyone even the least bit interested: here's a brief timeline. Unusually Usual (_aka- when Reg walks Alice home from work_) takes place on a Tuesday night. Early Birds and _this_ story are on the next day, Wednesday. So Reginald agreed to leave Alice alone for the rest of Wednesday and all of Thursday. Their dinner date is set for Friday night. Keep a look-out for that story! XD


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **Hey, long time, no see!! Well I'm back with a chapter and everything!! I hope y'all like it. The characters/WCMI story belong to Bri-chan and Rain, of course. Hopefully, by this point you've read their web comic over on LiveJournal. If you haven't, holy crow, go read it!!

Oh, and for lack of anything else to call him, I started referring to the March Hare as just "March". Hope nobody minds.

* * *

The door slid shut behind Reginald with a faint ringing of the shop's bells. Silence reigned for a moment after he departed, feeling impossibly long to Alice. Reginald seemed to take something away with him as he left, as if his very presence leant an air of light-hearted insanity to the room.

Alice felt a small pang as she watched his brightly colored self disappear around the corner.

Then all hell seemed to break loose in the small store. What had before been reduced to mere whispers sprang forth in loud conversation. Patrons turned to each other, gossiping shamelessly about the dramatic scene they'd watched unfurl.

'_Oh my,' _pondered Alice to herself. _'Everyone will be talking about it by the end of today…'_ Her headache seemed to intensify for a moment, before she brusquely shook herself out of such thoughts. _'That's self centered; why should people focus on you? And you shouldn't care regardless.' _

She nodded resolutely, and meant to go determinedly back to work. However, her two emotional friends interrupted her. They flew into Alice's line of sight, seemingly out of nowhere, both faces contorted into very different expressions. Belle was bursting from the seams with excited joy for her friend, while Ariel looked shocked and appalled.

Alice threw her hands up in a desperate gesture to cut them off, which Belle recognized and (_reluctantly_) heeded. Ariel, on the other hand, took no notice of Alice's testy expression.

The small blonde seemed to dare the once-mermaid to speak, and Ariel- unwittingly- stepped up to the challenge.

"What were you _thinking_?" She nearly bellowed, sounding more like King Trident than she realized. Had she known how much she resembled her father in that moment, Ariel would have remembered how it felt to have her affections questioned. As it was, the red head carried on, unaware of just how angry she sounded.

Alice flinched at her tone, but hid the brief sting of her friend's harsh opinion behind an equally furious front. "I'm afraid I haven't a clue what you mean, Ariel. Nevertheless, you had better make yourself clear _quickly_, because I don't like what I think you're saying. At all."

Ariel didn't back down from Alice's cold response. Her hands rose to her hips in fists against her becoming green dress, and she glared. "_Alice_. I'm saying this for _you_. I don't think you know exactly what you just agreed to. You can't possibly. You're going on a _date_ with _the Mad Hatter_ on Friday! With REGINALD!"

Alice sniffed dismissively, as if unimpressed. "I fail to see your point."

"My point," said Ariel, finally lowering her voice. "Is that you just promised to go out with a _lunatic_! It's…it's…preposterous, Alice. What are you thinking? I mean, it's _Reginald_."

Alice felt her jaw clench as a fire began to burn in her throat. _'How dare she? How _dare_ she?' _She found that- rather than the usual embarrassment she felt over Reginald's affections- she had only one thought at the moment: to defend him.

"You don't know him, Ariel. Mr. Theophilus is a wonderful man- sweet, caring and determined. He will not give up; it's _admirable_." Alice carried on with her rant, unaware of Belle's triumphantly smiling face in the background. "He does whatever he can think of to make me happy, and he never hides what he's thinking or feeling."

Fixing Ariel with a stare that could freeze Cruella mid-step, Alice spoke her forceful opinion without a trace of doubt. "I believe him to be quite the catch." With a small nod, Alice swept out from behind the counter and past Ariel.

"If you will please excuse me?" She didn't wait for an answer, marching indignantly to the back room of the store. The small crowd of customers (_who had once again fallen silent to watch unabashed as the two women argued_) parted before her like the Red Sea, unwilling to get in her way.

Ariel stared after her, mouth hanging open in shock, and Belle fought the urge to liken her to a fish. At least, not out loud.

After a moment, her face dissolved into a pout as she turned to see Belle standing behind her with a triumphant smile. Holding one hand out, palm up, Belle remarked, "Pay up, Ariel. I believe you owe me…20 Disney Dollars?" Ariel huffed, but obligingly began rummaging through her purse.

"I didn't think she'd defend him like that," muttered Ariel. "How is it that you always know what people are going to do?"

Belle shrugged, happily counting her well-earned cash. "I guess it comes of having read so much. Living in Disneyland is very like a story, after all."

Ariel (_who, in all honesty, hadn't much cared about the answer_) was still glaring sullenly at Belle. "I think you cheated, just to win the bet. Did you tell Alice beforehand?" she demanded.

The brunette scoffed, and moved to take Alice's former place behind the counter. "Of course not. Alice is a sweet person, even if she perhaps cares _too_ much about propriety."

"All you have to do is work up her temper, and she'll forget all about doing what others expect of her." Belle nodded with a fond smile as she thought of her friend. "I have long suspected that she was fonder of Reginald than she was willing to let on."

Ariel, leaning on the opposite side of the counter, had her usual look of excited curiosity. She simply loved _everything_ about this strange world on land. And the strange inhabitants. "I thought so too, but I never imagined she'd admit it out loud."

"Oh she wouldn't have, Ariel. Not on her own," said Belle with a knowing look. "That's why I thought we should…help her along a bit. You're the one who turned my plan into a wager."

Belle sighed a bit dreamily as she thought of her own husband. "Things like this tend to work out here- a normal, lovely girl who finds herself caring for a man who is a bit…_unconventional_. Really, it's a tale as old as time."

As soon as the last words left her mouth, Belle froze in place and a frown crossed her face. After a moment, she sighed, resigned to a life of quoting her own movie against her will.

Ariel (_completely oblivious to any and all references_) just carried on beaming.

* * *

Alice slammed the door to the backroom shut behind her, trying to let off some of her furious energy.

Alice found herself pacing the length of the room irritably, muttering under breath. "How _dare_ she? I mean…I simply _cannot_ understand…" A slow understanding of the scene she'd made (_for the second time_) seeped through her anger, and she sank back against the door.

"Oh dear," she groaned aloud, her hands coming up to hide her red face.

Despite her embarrassment however, Alice found that she was not in the least ashamed of herself. Nor of the cause she'd argued. "He may be _mad_, but that is _no reason_ to treat him like some sort of social _pariah_!"

'_As long as Reginald never finds out, I believe I've done a wonderful thing.'_

Feeling proud to have so well defended a friend (_she took no real mental note of his promotion from 'pest' to 'friend'_), Alice mentally ran back through her words. Then she paled, sliding down the door to the rest on the floor.

"Oh dear," she murmured again, but instead of the mortified complaint it had been before, it was a shocked whisper. Alice stared at nothing in particular as she realized what she'd just admitted to an eager audience.

'_Admitted?' _She frowned over her own choice of words. _'I sound as if…as if I meant every word…'_

A quiet "oh" slipped past her lips without any conscious thought on her part.

Alice was beginning to grasp what she had been denying to herself all along. Despite the insanity and chaos of Reginald's determined perusal of her, perhaps _in_ _spite of_ her constant annoyance with and disapproval of the man, she was falling for him.

"Oh, dear."

* * *

Reginald couldn't remember precisely how he had gotten home, only that it had taken much longer than it should have. He vaguely recalled leaving the bookshop on a cloud of pure bliss sometime in the afternoon.

Some time later that evening, he realized, quite suddenly, that he was seated at the head of the garden table, holding a cup of tea he had yet to drink from.

Upon taking a sip, he found it to be one of the _oddest_ concoctions he'd ever put together. His overly large nose wrinkled as he tried to decide how he could possibly describe the taste. Reginald eventually settled for "incredibly similar to Cajun food" and left it at that.

The reason behind his great distraction was (_of course_) his success with Alice. Finally, after a long time trying, he had a date with the lovely Ms. Liddell.

The excitement overwhelmed him for a moment, and Reginald abruptly leapt from his chair to punch one fist triumphantly into the air, all while practically _crowing_ a loud "YES!" to anyone who happened to be listening.

That someone happened to be the Doormouse, who poked his head from underneath an overturned butter dish, glaring through sleepy eyes. He hissed emphatically, "Shut _up_, Theophilus."

Reginald (_who was in the middle of a victory dance that meant he was currently doing the can-can with an invisible line of dancers_) froze mid kick to stare at the dish, as the Doormouse had retreated back to sleep and could no longer be seen. "What's gotten into him," he wondered aloud.

And then he shrugged, falling back into his seat. Nothing could put a damper in his celebratory mood that evening. Or so he thought.

"_Reginald Theophilus_!" The infuriated bellow rang across the garden with no forewarning, making said Mr. Theophilus jump in his seat. The sound of his own name had never inspired fear in him before, yet the Mad Hatter found himself quaking in his rather-exceptionally-sized shoes. This was followed by the gate slamming shut and a familiar figure coming into view.

The March Hare came storming through the garden, his face twisted in anger. Reginald- for once in his life- could think of no response. With one giant leap (_that assured anyone who may have been watching that he was in fact a rabbit_), March threw himself up onto the table, charging down the length of it and tackling into Reginald's chest. The force of impact sent the rabbit, Reginald, and the chair tumbling backwards and onto the ground. In a moment that appeared to pass in slow motion (_it may have been the most dramatic thing to happen all day_), Reginald's glorious green hat fell from his head and rolled to a stop against a chair leg some distance away.

Reginald stared after it in pure anguish until the March Hare shook him a bit to recapture his attention. "The _hell_ do you think you're doing?" shouted the poor unsuspecting victim, completely bewildered by this attack upon his person.

The March Hare paid him no attention, crouched on his chest and holding Reginald by his shirt. "What did you do to Alice, you _fiend_?" he demanded, sounding slightly, well, mad.

"I…have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," he answered honestly, brows furrowed. _'Usually I'm the one ranting while Ears looks confused. What is this world coming to?'_

March shook his head, not believing a word that came from his eccentric friend's mouth. "Oh no. I _know_ you did something, you shameless womanizer! How _else_ could you explain what I heard from Briar Rabbit at the market today, hmm?"

Reginald, having grown tired of being manhandled by a bunny a third of his size, pushed March off quite forcefully. The two rarely pulled punches when squabbling.

"Perhaps I'd be able to _enlighten_ you," he groused as he sat up, attempting to straighten out his collar. "If you would tell me what the _hell_ is going on?" March also got back to his feet, still glaring at Reginald through narrowed eyes.

"My dear cousin saw fit to inform me that you and Alice have a date planned for this Friday." Before Reginald could reply, the hare continued. "He implied- quite clearly- that a great deal of harassment went into convincing her to agree."

Reginald shot to his feet in offended rage. "That is _completely_ untrue!" Stooping to grab his hat, Reginald stormed off around the table and randomly selected an overly plush armchair to collapse upon in an indignant huff. "The nerve of some people," he growled. "Honestly, it's shocking what people will say when overcome by helpless jealousy."

March, who had been following Reginald's (_predicted_) response fairly well up to that point, startled. "Jealousy?" he began incredulously.

Before he could continue, his rather insane companion cut him off. "But of course," Reginald cried, gesturing dramatically with both arms. "The other, sadly-unattached people of Disneyland cannot help but envy a relationship as lovely as my darling Alice's and mine."

He fully believed every word he said, imagining the characters of Disney (_And there are some who do not speak so well of Reginald. A few can be quite scathing with their gossip and the Mad Hatter makes an easy target…_) as poor men and women forced to live lonely in a cruel world.

The March Hare however scoffed, knowing full well that his friend was not mocked out of _jealousy_. Still, he couldn't find it in himself to pop Reginald's idealistic bubble.

With a resigned sort of sigh, March seemed to accept that Reginald had not forced his sweetheart to submit to a dinner date. Sinking into a chair across the table, he reached wearily for a cup of tea. He had run all the way from the market to his home without stopping. Crisis averted, he just wanted to _rest_. Before he could pick up and enjoy a relaxing drink, Reginald leapt to his feet with an excited shout of "Clean Cup, Clean Cup! Move _down_!"

"Oh, for the love of…" March heaved himself up sullenly, moved one seat to the left and sat once more, ears drooping in exhaustion. Reginald, on the other hand, dashed seven places down and threw himself into a lime green rocking chair.

Which promptly rocked all the way over from the force of impact.

Reginald was quite bewildered to find himself on the ground for the second time that afternoon. Then he quickly shot to his feet, nervously glancing around in the hopes that no one had seen that. March caught his eye, one brow raised as if to question his intelligence.

Reginald's clever response was to stick out his tongue.

Rather than right the fallen chair, he ignored the treacherous piece of furniture and sat in the slightly plain chair beside it. "As I was saying," he began, attempting to pick up as though nothing had just happened. "My Cricket and I made a deal, and we shall be dining out this Friday evening."

He nodded decisively, trying and failing to keep the elated grin from his face.

March sighed, wanting details, but at the same time dreading the overly excited, ridiculously embellished story that Reginald was apt to tell him. Instead, he offered a sleepy "Congratulations," and sank back in his chair to enjoy his tea.

The pair managed to maintain a period of peaceful quiet for a while. The March Hare dosed off while Reginald absently stirred his tea and daydreamed of a date with his lovely Ms. Liddell. As he mentally ran through the possibilities, a horrifying thought occurred to him.

He shot to his feet with a desperately deranged cry of "Eeeaaaars!"

His poor furry friend jolted awake with a start, looking blearily around with alarm as he replied, "Dear Lord, what?"

Reginald, in a peak of dramatics, climbed over the table rather than waste time walking around it. "Ears," he whined as he went. "Ears, Marchy, March, buddy, pal, friend." Finally making it to the right side of the table, he bounded over to the March Hare and grabbed onto his shoulders.

"I…" he began, face twisted in terror. "Have _nothing_ to wear."


End file.
